This presentation will review the efficiencies and commercial benefits gained in utilizing plasma gasification to process biomass into a synthesis gas for conversion to ethanol via the bacterial fermentation process. Because the conversion of biomass to fuel poses challenges that non-genetically modified microorganisms simply can not address with natural ease in a commercial scale industrial environment, other techniques are needed. The plasma gasification of biomass on the front end of a bacterial fermentation process addresses these commercialization hurdles while offering several benefits at the industrial scale, including:

• The potential for utilizing the same organism for a variety of input material, including diverse biomass streams
• Bypassing the need for expensive pre-treatments to achieve one of the lowest production costs in the industry, as well as speeding up production time
• Locating ethanol production near virtually any locally abundant feedstock source
• The implementation of non-genetically modified organisms
• Enabling ethanol to be cost competitive with gasoline at current oil prices

The presentation will also include key learnings from the semi-scale operation of a syngas-to-ethanol demonstration facility in Warrenville, PA operated by Coskata, Inc. The essential steps of Coskata's syngas-to-ethanol process will be described, including:  

1. Incoming material converted to synthesis gas (gasification)   2. Fermentation of synthesis gas into ethanol (bio-fermentation)   3. Separation and recovery of ethanol (separations) 

The efficiency, affordability and flexibility benefits of this path for ethanol conversion, which contribute to its unique suitability for large scale commercialization for advanced biofuels production, will be cited.